"By porting Asset to this next-generation PCI bus controller card, we are able to not only offer better test performance, but also we can enhance the features and capabilities of the Asset system," said Glenn Woppman, president and chief executive officer of Asset InterTech.

The new Asset controller card has a 32-bit interface to the PCI bus and supports enhanced discrete input/outputs (I/O). The controller card supports 16 bidirectional, individually controllable, non-boundary scan signals, for monitoring and controlling signals that are not accessible with boundary-scan. Thus, Asset has significantly improved its ability to control the test and ISP environment on a board.

The Asset PCI bus controller card can perform tests on low-voltage systems, such as those used in many telecommunications and communications applications and portable systems. The voltage range spans 3.3 V to 5 V.

The card is designed to be used without an interface pod over a distance of about four feet to the unit under test (UUT). The card also supports longer distances to the UUT of up to 20 feet with an optional Asset access pod.

The access pod also extends the supported voltage range down to 1.8-V technology and can automatically sense the UUT voltage and set the pod outputs accordingly. Other voltages and technologies are supported by special request.

Several modes of test-access-port (TAP) control are available, including free-running test clock (TCK), gated TCK and discrete TAP control. Discrete TAP controls allow the test engineer to specify the next state of the TAP, particularly useful when devices that do not comply with the boundary-scan specification are being tested.

This capability also can be used during design and debug of TAP controllers in SICs. The new Asset PCI bus controller card will be available during the fourth quarter of 1999, at $4,995.